Havva Gümüşkaya
While red meat prices are hitting consumers harder than ever, the imports proposed by the government as a solution to lower prices have also skyrocketed. The Meat and Milk Board (ESK), at the centre of corruption allegations, imported 410 million dollars worth of meat and 927 million 64 thousand 286 dollars worth of live animals between January and October this year. Of this meat import, 293 million dollars came from purchases originating from Poland, which is at the centre of the scandals.
According to TÜİK’s foreign trade data, 410 million 637 thousand dollars worth of beef was imported between January and October. Beef imports in October alone reached 42.4 million dollars. 38.5 million dollars worth of meat imports in October came from Poland.
TARGET MISSED
Meanwhile, in line with the target set by the ESK, 520,000 head of live animals were expected to be imported this year. However, this target was exceeded in the January-October period, with 585,855 head of live animals imported.
A total of 927 million 64 thousand 286 dollars was paid for live cattle imports in the January-October period. During the January-October period last year, 586 million 769 thousand 870 dollars were paid for the import of 301 thousand 90 live animals. Furthermore, while breeding cattle constituted nearly half of the cattle imported last year, only 10 per cent of the live animal imports this year consisted of breeding cattle.
CHP Deputy Chairman Erhan Adem raised allegations of ‘conflict of interest and corruption’ in meat imports by the ESK and claimed that ESK General Manager Mücahid Taylan imported red meat to ESK from a company in which he was a partner in Hungary.
In response to public reaction, Taylan issued a statement denying allegations that his company sold meat to the institution he managed, but confirmed that he was a partner in a company trading in meat.
Mücahit Taylan defended his position as a partner in a meat trading company while managing the meat and dairy institution as “ethical”.
Later, journalist Bahadır Özgür examined the contracts for carcass meat imports made by ESK from 2023 to the present and claimed that 51% of the meat was sourced from a company called Polonia Beef in Poland, alleging that imports were dependent on a single company.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Et ithalatının faturası 410 milyon dolara ulaştı, published in BirGün newspaper on November 28, 2025.
